When
Brian Harrison invited me, as an experienced glider pilot, to fly the
Elf, I really didn’t know what to expect.

I already knew that
the microlight test pilot had been impressed by the overall handling,
vice-free characteristics and engine-on performance but what was still
to be investigated was its performance as a glider and whether or not
the figures would be attractive enough to interest the soaring pilot.

Designer Jerzy
Krawczyk has many aircraft designs to his credit including the Puchatek
sailplane and for the Elf he has drawn on the success of the Polish PW-5
and utilised its NN18-17 aerofoil. The construction is all-composite
employing carbon and Parabeam, a double skin glass fabric, which gives
the structure substantial rigidity, particularly in the cockpit area.

Assembly, after
removal from the trailer, is simplicity itself. The wing spars slide
into the fuselage box section and, as the controls are self-aligning,
only three pins, two main spar and one rear spar, are required to
secure each wing in place. The tailplane is attached by two bolts, and a
bolt and pin are used to connect the elevator. Job done! Two people, 20
min at most.

Sitting in the
cockpit, one is immediately struck by the available space and the
seating position, although more upright than that usually found in a
conventional glider, is very comfortable and all controls fall readily
to hand.

I had five flights
in the Elf.

The first took
place on a ‘good’ gliding day with cloud base at 4,500 ft and moderate
thermal activity.

Very early in the
take off roll I was aware that I had good aerodynamic control and
with only slight back pressure I was off and climbing out. I had already
been told that the instrumentation was “out” and within the first 500 ft
this was certainly confirmed. No meaningful figures on this flight then!

Having reached
2,000 ft I throttled back to level cruise and settled down to get the
‘feel’ of the aircraft. My first impression was that of excellent stick
and rudder harmonisation. Co-ordinated turns were achieved without
adverse yaw or tendency to slip. The stall was completely un-eventful
with mild pre-stall buffeting, followed by the nose dropping straight
through and without any tendency to drop a wing. Even when held in a 60
deg. bank, on stalling, the Elf simply rolled out level without any
input required. In a remarkably short time I was completely at
home with this little aircraft. Even with hands and feet off the
controls it was so stable that I did not find the lack of accurate
instrumentation a handicap. This was starting to be fun!

Next I tested the
engine restart. Having experience of pylon retraction systems I am aware
of the need to make early decisions regarding re-start. Pylon extraction
can take 20secs or more and it can, on occasion, be 30 sec from decision
to ignition. This can represent a significant height loss particularly
if you are in sink and it has caught out several pilots when a late
decision was made on extraction of the engine.

On the Elf the
starting procedure is; primer bulb, throttle open slightly, switches
‘on’, and press the button. Total time from decision to ignition, 7 sec!
I tried this 4 times over a ten minute period and the engine started,
first time, every time! Very reassuring.

Before any more
testing we had to sort out the instruments. A new ASI, electronic vario
and Digi Fly Pilot 2 were installed.

One week on, the
weather was looking good for the next test flight. This time on
climb out I could maintain accurate speed and max climb rate. Being
confident in both the handling and engine’s ability to re-start, it
was time to investigate the performance in thermals. The Elf
appeared to be very lift sensitive and I was quickly into a small
thermal in which ,with 45 deg bank, I climbed from 2,000 to 4,500 ft at
about 450 ft/min. Impressive!.

With lift about, I
decided to go on a small x-c and flew successive thermals down a cloud
street for 25 miles at which point I turned for home, only to find
that conditions were starting to deteriorate and I had descended
to 900 ft. With various fields available, I pressed the fuel
bulb, flicked the switches and the engine fired up immediately. After a
ten minute climb to 3,600 ft I switched off and headed home arriving
back at the airfield 1.hr 25 min after take off. Distance travelled 50
miles with an engine off time of 1 hour.

On approach, the
airbrakes, although not very powerful, did help to control the descent
on to my chosen spot on the runway.

Overall
this flight was a big surprise. Apart from the excellent handling, it
was the engine off performance which surprised me most. This is a superb
little glider which is particularly eager to climb in the
slightest lift. Although not wonderful into wind, at no time did I
feel I was limited by the low weight and the Elf’s 11m span.

In my experience
the Elf flies just like a K6 CR which has a reputation for its ability
to stay up when everyone else is on the ground.

My remaining
flights took place some days later in still-air conditions and utilised
calibrated instruments, both standard and digital. The following
figures were recorded and are, I believe, accurate. Elf flown at a
gross weight of 260 kg, including, pilot, ballistic parachute and 12ltr
fuel.